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Monday, June 17, 2013

Packing ramblings (part 1 of many)

Life has been stressful this past year to say the least, however, I certainly managed it well and all in all I remained fairly grounded throughout. One thing that has always stressed me out has been having to pack and move. This time it is a great thing having to move since I get an apartment as part of my new position so moving right now is something that I get to do. I get to start a new job and get a new apartment as well.Packing up is still stressful even under these circumstances, but I am using this time to really try to purge some things that I do not need and those things I have not looked at or used in the past 5 years. To pack up in this way is different then when I have moved in the past. I have blindly moved boxes from one place to the other that are labeled memories or photo albums and this time I am going through every box. I am holding on to things like music boxes that hold sentimental, family significance. I am tossing lots of doubles of photos, negatives and pictures of people I can not even name. I have moved boxes of candles, picture frames and other knick knack things that I have not used to decorate in years these go in the pile for a tag sale I will have.I have a few appointments this week, but I am not working yet. This week is dedicated to the packing process, to the purging process and to the wow that was a good memory and I do not need that anymore process.I have two boxes that I just do not know what to do with. One is all of my VHS tapes, some of which I have replaced with DVDs and the others I have not. I have a DVD/VCR combo, yet I have had the videos in storage for five years. I am pretty sure these will not move with me (except for a few gems like my original copy of Annie the Movie). And then there is the box of CDs. All of these have been put into my itunes library yet they are really difficult to part with. Part of that difficulty is that I can remember spending hours reading over and memorizing lyrics from liner notes. An itunes 'album' and a physical record, cassette or CD are quite different. I like the feeling of having the physical CD, however they have been stored for the past 5 years. So I think I will hold on to some of my favorite artists and some that hold significant value and then sell the rest. But for now those boxes will be put to the side. OK so really the above paragraph was more about me processing what I will do and less about sharing anything of interest to anyone who may be reading this.I have just gone through a box of "memories." This box contains college acceptance letters, copies of recommendation letters, old report cards, awards won, sorority memorabilia, playbills, a book of poetry I wrote circa 1988, and a variety of other things. The most significant thing that I found was letters written by exchange students that my family had hosted when I was younger most of these were from 1992-1993. It was really nice to be able to read these and remember such great times. My only regret is that I have not stayed connected to some of these childhood friends. I tried to search the internet but do you know how many Santiago Garcia's exist in Spain! I do think I have located one of these friends on Linked In and sent a message hoping it was the same young man that I knew 20 years ago. I think I am going to keep these letters they brought back some great memories and allowed me to reconnect. Maybe the next time I move I will get rid of them but for now they will stay.I feel like my stress level associated with packing and moving revolves around transition and change. The way that I am approaching this task now, taking time to sit with my memories allows me to really get excited about what new memories and life I will be creating. Here's hoping this attitude keeps up as my week progresses!

The Poetry of Yoga

I have written a poem that has been published in this book!! The Poetry of Yoga is a ground breaking book anthology expanding the literary tradition of yoga to include the cultural perspective of the 21st century. A modern day collection compiled and edited by artist, poet, and yogi HAWAH, this second volume is distilled from over 1,900 pages of poetry, submitted from 19 countries. Fifty percent of ALL book sales are donated to the non-profit organization, One Common Unity. Their pioneering work brings non-violence through arts & music to inner-city youth.